At a very young age I was exposed to the whole Good Hair/Bad Hair concept. I remember relatives in my family would differentiate some of my cousins by their hair-types. One of my cousins was even
nick named after his super tight-coils and deemed as having “Bad Hair”. It was known throughout my family, those who had good hair and those who had bad hair. Growing up I never thought anything different until later in life when I decided to go natural. It shed some light on how this concept began to formulate in our minds at such a young age… “nappy hair” equaled “bad hair”.
The concept of Good hair/Bad Hair is traced back to slavery years of ancestry. Blacks were consistently ridiculed for their hair to the point it was inscribed in their minds by White people. Furthermore, whites implied their hair texture and skin color were superior to that of Blacks. …. Leaving most blacks to long for lengthy/straight hair, to hate their own skin color and hair texture. Eventually, blacks began sowing that negative connotation into generation after generation ruining the self-esteem of our black women from youth. In today’s society most of our white counterparts no longer take interest in the texture of our hair, or even mention the mere idea of blacks having bad hair, blacks are doing a better job at it. Most blacks continue the negativity by constantly labeling kinky/coily hair as “bad hair”. Thereby, feeding those dreadful thoughts into our little girls, who don’t know any better until they get their first “perm” between the ages of 10-12.
Even though the media is increasingly exposing natural hair in a positive light, most blacks have not come to terms with the idea of black women sporting their natural manes. Most blacks consistently argue that natural kinky texture hair is unprofessional, unruly and just “Bad” discouraging women from going natural. I have had many conversations with women about natural hair and I find it disheartening when I hear one say “I can’t do the natural thing, I have bad hair”. I would much rather she feel good about herself and rock whatever hair styles she wants because it’s her preference (rather it be relaxed or natural), not because she thinks she has“bad hair”.
In my opinion, there is not a such thing as bad hair, at least the concept which equates bad hair with nappy/kinky hair or undefined and unruly curly hair. I have seen some bad cases of what I would actually regard as “bad hair”, women stepping outside with rollers, women hanging on to those little 3 unhealthy strands of long hair, I can go on and on. But on the other hand, I have conversed with kinky haired women sporting some awesome natural tresses. In fact, my own hair is full of kinks, coils/naps and some days a freaking beast to maintain, yet I have educated myself on how to manage my tresses resulting in me rocking some dayum “good hair”.
In conclusion, “good hair” is hair that is taken care of regardless the texture. Bad hair, on the other hand, is NOT hair that consists of very tight kinks/coils or happens to not be defined. Bad hair is hair that looks bad because its owner doesn’t know how to take care of it. Stop manifesting this concept that Kinky/Coily hair is bad specifically in our young girls and future generations. My advice, whether you have afro textured/kinky hair or any other types of hair, embrace your hair, educate yourself so that you can get your hair healthy and beautiful. Your whole life will become much better when you regard your hair as something naturally positive.